Free Of Consuming Fire by Micah Persell Page A

eyes were so beautiful. Grace felt herself flinch as pain worse than any she had felt so far rocketed through her body.
    The angel’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth opened as though he were going to speak.
    She quickly dragged her gaze from the angel and back into Abilene’s room, needing to distract herself from the pain before she did something foolish. Jericho had gotten Eli to calm a bit, and Dahlia was still talking to Abilene. Dahlia moved to one of the many monitors lining Abilene’s bed and read the feed to her.
    “Wait,” Abilene said, straightening in her bed. “What?”
    Dahlia repeated the feed.
    The only piece of equipment Grace recognized, the heart monitor, began to speed up.
    “That can’t be right,” Abilene said, shaking her head. Abilene reached a hand beneath the blankets as the room turned deadly quiet. The look of concentration on her angelic face disintegrated into absolute horror. “Oh, God, I feel like I’m ten centimeters already.”
    Eli walked to her side and grabbed her hand. “Um, isn’t that a good thing, baby?”
    Abilene swallowed a huge gulp of air, her ringlets bouncing vigorously as she shook her head. “But there’s no pain!” Her voice ended on a hysterical note. “Oh my God, there’s something wrong.”
    Grace’s heart plummeted, and she stepped forward as everyone in the room began to lose their cool. They were severely unprepared for a complicated delivery.
    Grace jumped as the angel’s voice sounded from right beside her. “Of course there is no pain, human,” he said softly.
    Even though his voice had been quiet, everyone stopped mid-word and turned to him. He
tsk’
ed in annoyance. “She has eaten of the Tree of Eternal Life,” the angel said shortly and with an air that led Grace to believe that he thought he had just explained everything. If the others’ expressions were any indication, they were still just as confused as she was.
    With a sigh, the angel continued, “Her delivery will be entirely painless. Excruciating labor is a curse of the Tree of Knowledge. That one,” he nodded unceremoniously at Dahlia, “will have a
very
difficult time. But you, little human,” he turned to Abilene, “will feel nothing.”
    Very slowly, they all turned to look at Dahlia. Grace watched as the blood drained from her face, an ashen look spreading beneath her warm caramel skin. “E-excuse me?” Dahlia asked.
    The angel frowned. “I sincerely believe you would not want to know details.” The statement was delivered without any inflection. Without any emotion. But the words were so grave a chill skittered up Grace’s spine.
    Dahlia attempted a laugh, but it came out forced. “I’ve gone through labor before, angel. I know it’s no picnic.”
    The angel shook his head. “Not like this, you have not.”
    Dahlia took a step back. Her eyes grew wide, and she nodded once. Then her knees failed her. Jericho caught her just before she hit the floor. “Shit! Sweetheart?” When Dahlia gave no response, he hauled her up into his arms and cradled her against his chest. With a venomous glare at the angel, he stalked forward. “What the
hell
is wrong with you, angel!” Then, just as quickly, his face fell into utter hopelessness. “Will she … she won’t …
die
, will she?”
    They all waited impatiently for the angel to answer, and his facial expression did not put Grace at ease. “She has eaten of the Tree of Eternal Life. In the end, the birth of her child will not be what ends her.”
    Which, Grace noticed, was not a
no
. And, once again, Grace was reminded of this angel’s endgame: their deaths.
    Jericho’s eyes turned bleak, and he kissed his unconscious wife on the forehead. Grace moved aside as Jericho carried Dahlia out while mumbling nonsense into her hair. His deep voice cut off abruptly as he closed them into their room. Grace looked back to Abilene, who had a hand covering her mouth, a look of horror painting her features. Eli was whispering in her